Wedding Night

Search the Site
Newsletter Signup

Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates about what's going on at the NFCT

 

Wedding Night

The First Night

In the ultra-Orthodox community men are educated not to look at women or think about them and a girl practices modesty in clothing, actions and thoughts. Marriage requires complete strangers to suddenly encounter their partner for the first time in an intimate situation with only rudimentary information. According to Jewish law, they are required at that first intimate encounter to consummate the marriage. The forbidden becomes permitted, the impure pure, and modesty turns into full exposure. What was considered sinful transforms to the Holy of Holies.
The film draws a portrait of a society and a place: women and men speak bravely about their hidden feelings during matchmaking, the engagement period, the guidance of brides and grooms, the canopy, the special “Yihud” room, until the morning after marriage.

Festivals and Awards:

Docaviv Film Festival 2023, Tel Aviv, Israel

Director: Rachel Elitzur

Producer: Avigail Sperber

Production Company: Pardes Production

Cinematographer: Avigail Sperber

Editor: Noit Geva

Soundtrack Editor: Rotem Dror

Original Soundtrack: Karni Postal

Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, Yes Docu, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute

Script: Rachel Elitzur

Subtitles: English, Hebrew

Film Name in Hebrew: ליל כלולות

In the ultra-Orthodox community men are educated not to look at women or think about them and a girl practices modesty in clothing, actions and thoughts. Marriage requires complete strangers to suddenly encounter their partner for the first time in an intimate situation with only rudimentary information. According to Jewish law, they are required at that first intimate encounter to consummate the marriage. The forbidden becomes permitted, the impure pure, and modesty turns into full exposure. What was considered sinful transforms to the Holy of Holies.
The film draws a portrait of a society and a place: women and men speak bravely about their hidden feelings during matchmaking, the engagement period, the guidance of brides and grooms, the canopy, the special “Yihud” room, until the morning after marriage.

Festivals and Awards:

Docaviv Film Festival 2023, Tel Aviv, Israel

 
The First Night

Director: Rachel Elitzur

Producer: Avigail Sperber

Production Company: Pardes Production

Cinematographer: Avigail Sperber

Editor: Noit Geva

Soundtrack Editor: Rotem Dror

Original Soundtrack: Karni Postal

Supporter(s): The New Fund for Cinema and Television, Yes Docu, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute

Script: Rachel Elitzur

Subtitles: English, Hebrew

Film Name in Hebrew: ליל כלולות

Related Films
  • Postpartum

    Postpartum

    Fiction / 13 Min.
    Director: Aviv Kaufman

    More Info >>

  • Kiki

    Kiki

    Documentary / 61 Min.
    Director: Natan Rushansky

    More Info >>

  • Once Upon a School

    Once Upon a School

    Documentary / 70 Min.
    Director: Tal Becher, Yair Agmon

    More Info >>

Newsletter Signup

Sign up to our newsletter to receive updates about events and submission deadlines

 

Greenhouse Website
Our Facebook